High within the Maker's workshed
A charcoal cloud climbs the Heavens.
From deep within its recesses the moisture of mercy billows forth.
Yet the anvil of God awaits His Hammer, His Voice.

Electric air breaks its own threshold,
And flashes of lightning stab the earth silently
For a moment, a moment-moment.
The hallowed atmosphere a sudden vacuum.

From below and above the Voice,
The Voice of the Almighty, rumbles with restraint.
Then roars and explodes with approaching anger.
Now rolls, rolls away, away, away.

Impatient, a sudden jolt blinds the beholder
And stops the heart for a telling second.
The creature- trembling- under Maker
Now bows to the ground.

The Hammer strikes! God's Voice again deafens and shakes
The worm which was human;
More lowly now in mind than body,
And terrified beneath the sparks of fury.

The awesome God is found.
He has come to the doorstep, and unshakable Majesty is His.
His right to punish is seen and felt first hand-
No more questions: God is God.

But, a shift in the air takes place,
And drops, now great showers, of Father-rain replace Royal rage.
A deluge of Joy and tender Mercy pours down!
His newborn child is drenched with sudden glory!

Swaddled in love and washed by Heaven,
The child lifts its head to the falling sky
And feels refreshment, not ruin,
And eternal light within, glimmering, shining!

Quietly, gently, the thunder rolls away.
By infinite Grace, the lightning had only
Circumcised the heart! Now new blood
Pulses forth, to God... in Heaven-lit fire.

Heard in the distance, the storm's gentle rumbling
Has become rejoicing, cheers, and tears in Heaven.
All see that God bids His new-formed image to rise in the Risen One,
The radiant Son, encircled by the rainbow of His glory.

Christ shines upon His new creation, His child,
Formed by fire and cleansed by water.
And with His baptized newborn enthroned with Him,
They together laugh a long laugh in the dawn of His Paradise.